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One of France's top regional newspapers has been ridiculed and criticized in equal measure after it splashed still images of a pornographic film that was being recorded in a local park on its front page as well in an inside spread. Warning: This story contains graphic images.

A regional newspaper covering the Oise departement north of Paris unleashed a storm of derision and outrage on social media after its front page story last week.

Beneath the headline "The shooting of a porn film in a central park" was a graphic picture of a woman performing oral sex on a man while a cameraman went in for a close-up. Meanwhile, another member of crew looked on with his hands on his hips.

If that wasn't already enough to ruin breakfast for local residents of the Oise, the paper went deeper into the story, publishing a full page photo-spread of seemingly voyeuristic shots from the scene. These included images of the porn stars having sexual intercourse.

The paper - the Oise Hebdo - has been ridiculed for its trashy content before, reported the Metro newspaper, but can still boast being the fifth most-read regional weekly newspaper in the country.

This week's cover story prompted an outcry on Twitter where some users slammed the paper's lack of morals. According to reports on Monday several outraged family organisations have also launched legal action against the newspaper.

One reader simply wrote "Oise Hebdo knows no limit."

Others noticed that it was on sale in supermarkets next to the mini-shopping trolleys for children.

And finally one tweeter noted that the paper's front page also carried an advert for 50 percent off at Flunch restaurants, suggesting readers might not be feeling too hungry after reading the newspaper.

However the paper's editor Vincent Gérard has defended his decision to publish the pictures although he admits he was inundated with phone calls from readers wishing to complain.

"For twenty-one years I've been at this newspaper and it's the first time that we've ever had a pornographic film being made in the city centre in broad daylight at 12.30pm, in a park 200 meters from the town hall.

"It's simply never been seen before. It's unprecedented. Oise Hebdo is the newspaper that tells it all," Gérard added.

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